Memorial Students Hear Civil Rights Movement Memories

Memorial Junior High School ELA teachers Laura Dunham and Anne Larkin
helped their eighth-grade students experience a part of living history.
Betty McCorvey, who grew up in Selma, Alabama in the 1960s, shared her
experiences about living in the South during the Jim Crow era and the
Civil Rights Movement.

Mrs. McCorvey's grandson, 8th grader
Reese Kaufman, mentioned to his teachers that his grandmother had
participated in the Movement with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the
Selma protests for voting rights. Mrs. McCorvey graciously offered to
share her story and described what life was like in Alabama in the
1960s, when she had to sit on the back of the bus and attend a separate
school due to segregation. At a church meeting, she was lucky enough to
shake Dr. King's hand and described him as a powerful leader because he
was a good listener.

The students sat with rapt attention while
listening to Mrs. McCorvey explain her life experiences in a racially
divided state and were inspired by her moral courage to stand up for her
rights during the Selma protests. She advised the students to study
hard every day and to stand up when they see injustice.